Captain Cool MSD

Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team and the Chennai Super Kings cricket team.

Early days
Born : 7 July,1981 Ranchi , Jharkhand, India. Dhoni was a goalkeeper for his football team and was sent to play cricket for a local cricket club by his football coach. Though he had not played cricket, Dhoni impressed with his wicket-keeping skills and became the regular wicketkeeper at the Commando cricket club (19951998). Based on his performance at club cricket, he was picked for the 1997/98 season Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship and he performed well.

Cricket Debut
Ranji debut : Played for Bihar , 1999-2000. ODI debut : 23 December 2004 v Bangladesh.
(He announced his arrival in 2004-05 at the international arena with bang as he smashed a superb century 148 runs of 123 balls in his fifth ODI which helped India to beat Pakistan easily.)

Test debut : 2 December 2005 v Sri Lanka. T20I debut : 1 December 2006 v South Africa.

As a Captain Debut
He was awarded the captaincy of Team India for the first ever T20 Cricket World Cup in 2007 in South Africa. Dhoni led Team India towards victory and received a lot of praises from the former players and cricket lovers. This led him to be appointed as the captain of ODI matches of Team India for the 7 match series opposite Australia in September 2007.

 No previous history of captaincy, when he led a young side to victory in the first ICC World Twenty20. Calm mind in critical situations thats why he is known as captain cool. Give genuine respect and trust to the team members. Experiment and take risk. Magnetic personality binds the team.

World cup 2011

Irrespective of what happens to the rest of his cricketing career, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will always be remembered for winning the 2011 World Cup with that magnificent six, at the Wankhede Stadium. If any gesture truly signified cool, it was that. It was Dhonis decision to play the leggie Chawla as he felt that the leg spinner will be useful on sub-continent tracks. Chawla hadnt played in a while and looked out of sorts in first few games that he played. He got the struggling Raina in the playing XI after Pathan looked out of sorts against quality opponents.

Once you make them, back them to the hilt.

Achievements
Awarded an honorary doctorate degree (2011) Territorial Army conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel to Dhoni (2011) Chennai Super Kings won IPL (2010) Castrol ODI Cricketer (2010) Prestigious Padma Shri Award (2009) Captain of Wisden's first-ever Dream Test XI Team (2009) ICC ODI player award (2008 and 2009) Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna Award (2007-08) "Man of the match" against Pakistan at Gadaffi Stadium (2006) 1st position on LG's ICC ODI player (2006) 2nd position on LG's ICC ODI player rankings (2006) Pepsi & MTV Youth Icon (2006) NDTV Youth Icon (2006) "Man of the match" against Sri Lanka (2005) 1st "Man of the match" award against Pakistan at AC-VDCA Stadium (2005)

Level- 5 Leadership
MS Dhoni is a transformational leader who has transformed the Indian cricket team from good to great. Time Magazine ranked him in the list of 100 most influential people in the world for the year 2010. Down to earth personal humility : ->When former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was playing his last match, as a gesture of respect, Dhoni asked Ganguly to take charge of the team when the ninth Aussie wicket fell. After Indias 2011 World Cup victory, he preferred to take a back seat as his team circled the field with Sachin Tendulkar (most senior and a legendary Indian cricket player) on their shoulders. Dhoni gave his teammates the limelight. Self Awareness (Knowing your emotions). -> Dhoni has the ability to isolate himself from the conventional opinions. He has confidence in his leading abilities and hence experiments with player selection, fielding placement, bowler rotation, and batting order. Sometimes his experiments back-fire, but he accepts mistakes and learns from them. Kapil Dev once said, Self-belief is the greatest asset that enables MS Dhoni to lead from the front.

Self Regulation (Managing Emotions) -> Dhoni is known for his calm and patient approach. Even when the situation seemed out of hand, he remained the same calm and controlled person. A cricket commentator and journalist, Harsha Bhogle says, Dhoni's success is proof of the difference between instinct and luck. Dhoni's instincts stay sharp because he is calm, and a calm opponent is the most dangerous opponent. Motivation (Focusing your emotions) It is difficult to see what motivates Dhoni to be so energetic and persistence in achieving goals. He came from rural Indian background and earned his way to lead nations most prestigious sport team. I think his desire to excel, seeking of creative challenges and love of learning, propel him. He is a great motivator who keeps his team motivated inside and outside the field.

Empathy (Understanding other emotions) and Social Skills When he became captain, he had to manage team-mates who were senior to him in terms of age and experience. He had to build a congenial atmosphere so as not to disturb the egos of his senior team players and bring and encourage new talent in the team at the same time. He practices a principle of congratulating in public and criticizing in private that shows the respect for teammates and strengthens bonds with teammates. Dont just play for the crowd but play for the team and country. We should also believe in the ones who failed in the Team. At crucial times a team member who was not able to deliver might do miracles. Dont rely on one specific individual and he has good people management skills.

I never predict what will happen in cricket. We believe in each other and we believe in the process. We will take each game in the right frame of mind